A great tool for gamemasters, providing tips and additional cultural information unintended for players. It also comes with an entertaining adventure.

The reason why I gave this item four stars instead of five is that, outside of the screen art and the adventure (which is about half of this product) this item is identical to the "Game Master's Pack and Screen: The Hare Clan". So, for gamemasters who are interested in running all of the L5R adventures in pre-coup era, you are buying half this product twice.

A very good book expounding on the role of government during the 4th edition era, including the origin, duties and powers of the Shogun. In addition to the cultural and political details covered in this book, it also provides six "lost minor clans". The book gives a good overview of these clans from their inception through their (possible) destruction. Any would be applicable in any era, with most being a great option for players who want to get their characters into a clan at its inception, or for gamemasters who want an antagonist which their players can destroy without upsetting the greater Empire.

A character sheet, and then some. The travelogue begins with the basic character sheet and then is followed by pages for extended inventories of spells, items, advantages and disadvantages, allies and enemies, and even includes pages to expound on the characters physical appearance, personality and beliefs. Pages are also alloted for extensive entries on glory and honoraries, lands held, marital status, etc. In addition to pages dedicated to the individual, the travelogue includes a brief summary of the seven tenets of bushido.

That said, the majority of this is left blank to allow the full chronicle of the life of the character from birth through his death. It even has a section reserved for the characters final haiku, and their will (what happens to their possessions and property now that they are dead).

A great book that allows d20 fans to play in the world of L5R, providing gamers with clans, lands and histories. As L5R was designed as a living world, this edition is set approximately 40 years after the events of the 1st edition RPG book.

The only downside to this book is that (unlike all other editions of L5R) it is more of a campaign setting as opposed to a full rule book. This book is designed with the idea that the group has copies of the D&D 3rd edition core book, DMG, and Oriental Adventures books.

Although written for 4th edition L5R, this book provides a detailed overview of a specific province that can be dropped into most clan lands, and is appropriate for nearly all time periods. As the province in question is contested, this can also be used to provide players a chance to find themselves running a province.

The book provides the province's history, geography, and key locations (including cities, shrines, natural points of interest, and numerous villages of various sizes and roles). It also provides information on important NPC's, from their backgrounds to their motivations.

While a gamemaster would have to retool the mechanics present in this book, I recommend it for anyone running any form of L5R game.

A great book introducing a great setting to RPG. A complete book that not only introduces the mechanics, but also includes an adventure to bring new characters together and give them a glimpse at the larger world of Rokugan. That said, these mechanics may not be for everyone as the system is designed (as the author puts it) for "roleplay not roll-play". The system is designed to make players consider strengths and weaknesses and truly create a three dimensional character. The mechanics are also designed to reflect the quick brutality of actual sword fights in the kenjutsu style. Characters who rush straight into a conflict will most likely live short lives.

For deep characters and harsh realities, this is a great game. If your group is more interested in levels and hack-and-slash, but still want to play in the world of Rokugan, I recomend the 2nd edition/d20 books.

If you are a fan of the Birthright setting, or just interested in your characters managing a small domain, this is the book for you. Although it works best within the Birthright setting as intended, neighboring politics and bloodline concerns can be either ignored or altered to fit most campaign settings. Also includes the answer to Endier's riddle and more information on the Spiderfell.

This book is a great tool for anyone running a Rokugan game. Although designed for use with the 2nd Ed. L5R core book, there is enough descriptive text that it can be easily used within any L5R edition. This book provides a fully functional village that can be dropped into any clan lands, and even provides sidebars with clan specific suggestions. This book also provides descriptions for all the major players in town that characters may encounter, from the regional gokenin to the local begger (although the book is very light on the mechanical side of character desciption, often providing nothing more than "Rank 3 Bushi"; that said, it does make references to the 2nd Ed. L5R core book for suggested stats). This book includes description of the town holidays, religion, geography, history, politics, economy, etc., as well as a number of small maps of the town and surrounding region. A number of campaign suggestions, as well as adventure threads provide a miriad of options that could be developed into full adventures. To conclude, this book provides a very rich setting that would allow a party to spend numerous seasons all in one small out-of-the-way village.

For 2nd ed. D&D, this set is almost required for anyone who wants to secret societies, random adventure generation (either through the tarroka deck or using the dice; more on this later), or a vampire. Strahd's spellbook adds some nasty new tricks to an already dangerous opponent. Spells can benifit any campaign, although most useful for vampires or necromancers.

The downside to the pdf is that you cannot roll, shuffle or draw from a pdf. That said, with some basic replacement (assigning a number for each symbol on the dice, or using the rules for translating the tarroka to a standard 52 card deck), it is still a great tool.

Although I had been gaming for a while, this was the first box set I ever bought. I have never regretted that decision, as it a very unique world with a lot of potential for players to change the world, and holds up great to this day. Although a number of games have since opted to provide such rules, this was the first time (that I have heard of) that a system had rules for not only characters being rulers, but for running a kingdom. In addition, it used the standard magic system with more. In addition to bloodline magic (and the resulting capacity for bloodtheft [think: the quickening from the Highlander films]), the land was riddled with ley lines that a powerful mage might bend to their will. This set covers a large portion of the continent (others are hinted at and partially shown, but not covered in detail), with four other sets covering the rest (and easily available through this site). In addition, TSR had begun releasing modules that would cover a specific realm in great detail, and provide much more information for running that domain. Unfortunately, TSR was bought by WotC before all could be created (two domains were completed but not published, and were among some of the materials WotC released for free on their website in the early 2000's). Another great flavor to this campaign was the Shadow World, a dark mirror world where dark forces held sway.

The only downside to the pdf is that the mass combat system utilizes cards and a battle mat. And while these are included in the pdf, would require excellent print resources to fully appreciate.